"I usually think too much about my serves and coach (Sherry) Carlson told me not to let it get in my head," VanLith said.

ORCS wasted little time setting the tone, taking a 10-4 lead in game one that forced Bottineau coach Steve Dunrud to use an early timeout. It worked for a moment as the Stars tied the opening set at 11, but the Knights reclaimed momentum with a 9-3 run and cruised to a first-game victory.

"We came in confident and aggressive and we weren't willing to lose," senior outside hitter Billie Bangen said. "We developed that hunger for this game."

The Knights had trouble with their serve in the early stages of the match, committing nine service errors in the first two sets. Despite the miscues, ORCS finished with 15 aces. VanLith had five of the team's six aces in the third set.

"We were just so determined and that was the thing that was so great," Carlson said. "When you come in with that kind of determination, you're going to have a good result and even when they faltered a little bit they recovered and got back on track. We really wanted to control the match and I feel like the girls did that."

Bottineau never led in the match and fell behind early in each set with a series of passing errors and communication breakdowns. With their backs against the wall after dropping the first two sets, the Stars fell behind 11-0 in the third game. A series of kills by sophomore middle hitter Stephanie Brenden and junior outside hitter Courtney Gallagher helped Bottineau close to within 19-13, but the early hole proved too big to dig out of.

"We didn't pass at all and we gave them a whole lot of opportunities," Dunrud said. "They're too good to give that many opportunities. We knew we would have to play as well as we did the other night and we didn't. (ORCS) had a lot to do with it. They served the heck out of the ball."